Bulletin: Sunday, February 22, 2026 + This Week at Zion

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THIS WEEK AT ZION

Saturday, February 21
No Events Scheduled

Sunday, February 22
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Monday, February 23
6:00 p.m. - 1st Year Confirmation Class
7:00 p.m. - 2nd Year Confirmation Class

Tuesday, February 24
6:15 p.m. - Bell Choir
7:15 p.m. - Adult Choir

Wednesday, February 25
Lent Week 1
2:00 p.m. - Lent Worship Service
2:30 p.m. - Bible Study Nurturing Your Faith: Patient Urgency
7:00 p.m. - Ash Wednesday Worship Service with imposition of ashes
(Service streamed on our YouTube channel)

Thursday, February 26
6:30 p.m. - LWML Meeting (additional details)

Friday, February 27
No Events Scheduled

Saturday, February 28
11:00 a.m. Bible Study with Deaconess Joanna Lee - Nurturing Your Faith: Patient Urgency
2:00 p.m. - Men’s Bowling Fellowship (additional details)

Sunday, March 1
8:00 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
9:15 a.m. — Adult/Teen Bible Study & Sunday School
10:30 a.m. — Worship Service with Communion
(The 8:00 a.m. service streamed on our YouTube channel)

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CLICK THE UPCOMING EVENTS GRAPHIC to go directly to our UPCOMING EVENTS page

Third Annual District Forum Held in St. Louis

Third annual district forum held in St. Louis 
By Mary Henrichs, Reporter Staff, January 27, 2026 

Despite the snowy road conditions in much of the Midwest, the weather did not deter any of the 48 district leaders — representing 31 LCMS districts — who attended the third annual district forum at The LCMS International Center in St. Louis on Dec. 2–3, 2025. The event, hosted by the LCMS Office of National Mission (ONM), acts as a key opportunity for ONM staff and district leaders to collaborate on areas of both growth and challenge that face their ministry. 

Attending for the third time, the Rev. Jim Henkell, ministry executive for the LCMS Pacific Southwest District, described the shared enthusiasm around the event: “The interaction with colleagues is phenomenal: to discover and learn what God is doing in their districts and to discern if that applies to us, and also to delight in it with them.” 

The first part of the day included two breakout training sessions, offered by National Mission, from which participants could choose: one on “Exploring God’s Mission Here,” a Bible study and congregational planning tool; and another on ONM grant programs, led by Deaconess Maryann Hayter, LCMS manager of grantmaking. 

The Rev. Dan Galchutt, ONM executive director and interim LCMS chief mission officer, explained “Exploring God’s Mission Here” as a resource designed to help facilitate “tough conversations with congregations that are in challenging spots.” It seeks to address the spiritual and emotional side of those conversations while also helping to isolate the relevant facts and numbers. Designed to be led by a district leader, the Bible study includes questions to guide congregational self-appraisal, then points the congregation toward possible next steps, such as revitalization, developing partnerships, church planting/replanting, or even a blessed end. 

Throughout Galchutt’s presentation, group discussion revolved around two main questions: How can leaders and congregations be more proactive, and how can leaders encourage people to participate in the ongoing mission of God: seeking and saving the lost? 

In the grantmaking training session, Hayter walked participants through nine separate grant programs that offer funding to congregations, schools, Recognized Service Organizations (RSOs) and workers. “What I really love [about the district forum] is [that] it’s an opportunity to hear from the district personnel. … While I was giving them a ton of different information, I was also acquiring from them what we could do better to communicate with them and with the congregations and RSOs within their districts,” said Hayter. 

Later in the day, discussion topics and presentations were provided by the district leaders. The Rev. Daniel Grams, mission executive in the LCMS Kansas District, walked through a case study of successful revitalization at Christ Lutheran Church in Manhattan, Kan., which had declined to only 12 members and was ready to close its doors. Through a partnership with the district and the calling of a pastor (the Rev. James D. Woelmer), the church devoted itself to the intention “that God may instill in our hearts a passion for the lost.” Woelmer visited and shared the Gospel with over 250 unchurched families. Over the course of two years, Christ Lutheran gained 45 new members and now has a weekly attendance of about 60. 

The Rev. Dr. Allan Buss, president of the LCMS Northern Illinois District, discussed church revitalization. No matter how big or small, “all of our congregations are always in need of revitalization,” said Buss. He also emphasized the importance of tapping into the energy and leadership of laypeople. 

The ONM offered a resource fair for attendees to have consultation and discussion with staff, and, on the second day, district and ONM leaders took part in roundtable discussions focused on the districts’ recently concluded conventions, exchanging ideas, struggles and success stories in areas including school ministry, worker wellness, church planting and disaster response. 

LWML News Update: 2 Upcoming Events

Hello Women of Zion!
Our Winter LWML Meeting will be next Thursday, February 26th at 6:30 p.m. in the Fellowship Hall. We will cut stamps and prepare them to be sent out for missions.  Please bring an appetizer or dessert to share. We hope to see you there! 
 
Please also mark your calendars!
We will be hosting a Lenten Supper on Wednesday, March 18th at 5:30 p.m. before the evening Lenten service.  Please watch for a sign-up genius next week. Free-will offerings that night will be used to support the Eastern District Deaf Ministry. Plan to attend and help out and learn about this great ministry in our area!

In Christ,
Tevia Grimenstein

Youth Group: Spring Retreat May 15-17

Zion youth are going on a Spring Retreat May 15-17, 2026 
Save the date for a fun-filled weekend retreat that your middle/high school aged-child won’t want to end! At Pioneer on the Lake -- a Lutheran Camp and Retreat Center on the shores of beautiful Lake Erie -- weekend retreats are packed with meaningful worship, relevant teaching, devotion time, a hands-on service project, and awesome Christian fellowship with friends, both new and familiar. Add in fun games and camp activities, and it’s a weekend that’s both spiritually impactful and incredibly memorable. 

More details to come !!! 

VIDEO: Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026 - Complete Service

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Audio: Readings & Sermon for Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026

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Old Testament Reading -- Joel 2:12–19 
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the LORD your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.
Who knows whether he will not turn and relent,
and leave a blessing behind him,
a grain offering and a drink offering
for the LORD your God? 

Blow the trumpet in Zion;
consecrate a fast;
call a solemn assembly;
gather the people.
Consecrate the congregation;
assemble the elders;
gather the children,
even nursing infants.
Let the bridegroom leave his room,
and the bride her chamber. 

Between the vestibule and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep
and say, “Spare your people, O LORD,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
a byword among the nations.
Why should they say among the peoples, ‘
Where is their God?’” 

Then the LORD became jealous for his land
and had pity on his people.
The LORD answered and said to his people,
“Behold, I am sending to you
grain, wine, and oil,
and you will be satisfied;
and I will no more make you
a reproach among the nations 

Epistle Reading -- 2 Corinthians 5:20b—6:10 
We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. 

Working together with Him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For He says, 

“In a favorable time I listened to you, 

and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” 

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything. 

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, the sixth chapter
“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. 

“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

“And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

Bulletin: Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026

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2:00 p.m. - Worship Service with the imposition of ashes
7:00 p.m. - Worship Service with the imposition of ashes